More pain for Ange after ‘absolute howler’... and ‘really poor’ goal as winless Forest start continues

Ange Postecoglou branded the decision to award the free kick that led to Sunderland’s winning goal “an absolute howler” as the Australian’s winless start at Nottingham Forest continued.

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Postecoglou, who is now without a win in five games since taking charge, was hoping to introduce himself to the City Ground faithful with a victory after a 2-2 draw in Spain against Real Betis earlier in the week.

Instead, despite throwing plenty at Sunderland, Forest couldn’t find a way through in a frustrating defeat that was made even harder to take by the controversial free kick call.

The free kick in question came after Nico Dominguez was given a yellow card by referee Tony Harrington for simulation, with the Forest midfielder appealing for contact from Trai Hume close to his own penalty area.

The decision did not go down well with a number of Forest players, but as a result they were too slow to refocus as Granit Xhaka picked out an unmarked Omar Alderete inside the penalty area for the 38th-minute header.

“We conceded a really poor goal, albeit from a poor decision from the official, but after that we had enough chances to win the game,” Postecoglou said after the game.

“We are in a cycle at the moment where we are getting every outcome out of the game except the win — and that is the most important thing.”

Forest defender Neco Williams said it was a “tough” loss to take, echoing a similar sentiment to Postecoglou in both criticising the referee’s decision while also admitting they could have defended the free kick better.

“It was a game where we just didn’t finish off our chances. We created many chances but just couldn’t put it to bed,” Williams told Sky Sports.

“We should have defended the free kick better but, at the same time, I’ve never seen a referee give one of those free kicks before in all my time of playing football.

“There was contact, so he got it wrong, and for the goal I was held back. He had two arms around my waist and that played a key factor in their goal.

“It is two poor decisions, especially by the referee and then the people on VAR.”

While Forest may have felt aggrieved by that decision, they had a number of chances to equalise.

Their best opportunity came near the end of the game as the ball was crossed into the middle of the box for Chris Wood, who had a clear shot at the header but couldn’t find the back of the net.

Postecoglou fell to his knees when that header missed and it wasn’t the only shot from close range that Wood had late in the piece, but the Australian wasn’t putting the blame directly on the Forest striker when asked about those missed chances.

“There are others as well. We need to take those chances because ultimately you pay a price in games that you should be winning comfortably,” Postecoglou said.

Forest has now scored just one goal in three Premier League games under Postecoglou and the Australian didn’t have any answers yet as to why his team is struggling to convert on its opportunities.

“It’s hard to say, but we don’t really have the luxury of time to analyse that,” he said.

“We have the foundation to win games of football but we aren’t and we need to change that.”

Postecoglou’s next chance to get a win on the board comes on Friday as Forest’s Europa League campaign continues against Midtjylland, while they travel to Newcastle next Monday morning in the Premier League.

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